Aerial toy



I Feb; .7, 1939. w, O CLARK r AL 2,145,972

I I {AERIAL TOY Filed Nov. 7, 1934 ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 7, 1939 AERIALQTOY- William. i .OlarkgTolcdo, Ohio; and. Laurence. 1W.

Finch,".wauwatosa, and Charles WCRose; Milwaukee, *Wis.

Application November's-7, 1934, Serial No. 751,852

13" Claims.

The present :invention relates in generalsto improvements .in the: constructions and operation of aerial toysofithe: type comprising oneor more miniature: airplanes adapted to be: forcibly pro.

5 jected from a tube ;or.- catapult. 1

Generally defined; an :object. .of the present-in.- vention is to provideinn improved aerial .toy; Which is simple in. construction and highly effective in use.

While it has; heretofore: been. proposed-.toiproject miniature airplanes fromrtubes or guns; these prior toys were: relatively complicated and frail. by virtue of the fact that they-Were provided with tailfins inorderato insure flightnthereofin a predetermined direction. These-.priorraerial toys were also: objectionablebecausepf. the use of special and relatively complicated 'guns for projecting the same, or due=t0 the-abs'enceof flight guides on the projectorsyandnone ofth'ese rior devices. have "therefore become r unusually popular with the trade;

It is a more speeific obj'ectof the present in.- vention to provide an improvedtoy of this gene eral type, which. may 'be'readily projected .in any the projector in that direction; and which in.- volves the use of simple-and extremely-rugged miniature; airplanes.

Another specific object of the invention.is-.to provide an improved airplane catapult :which, by virtue of the shape of, the projecting: tube, will permit projection of. a planexinzahydesired..diF recti0n.'

A further specific object of. the invention is the provision. of a toy plane which maybe: delivered in any desired direction without the aid; of vtail fins or-thelike.

still. another specific objectof. the invention. is to provide an. aerial toy; which:may;be manufactured and sold at: minimum. cost, :and; which is unusually. attractive. and? conveniently operable.

An additional specific object.of.=the invention is to provide an improvedglider-structure. wherein the flight characteristics: are determined-solely by variations .in the. angular. disposition; of 1 the wings relative to the body or fuselage.

These and other objects and: advantages will be apparent from thefollowingdetailechdescripr tion.

A clear conception of embodiments of the. sev:- eral features constituting .theipresent improvement, and of the modeiof; constructing: and of manipulating aerial toys built inaccordance with the invention, may be" had byareferringvtoi-the drawing accompanying and formil1ez=a partmf desired direction by merelypointing ors tilting Figili isanenlarged end view of the projector, I

showing one of their-airplanes disposed therein preparatory to: being-set: in flight; "and.

Fig- :7 is:an enlargedtransverse section thru one .ofithezairplanes with the .wingsthereof folded; over thewfuselage, the section. having been taken-on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

While ;.the. several features of the. present in.- vention".-have-. been. shown and described herein aslbei-ng .appli'ed to a specific form of miniature airplane or: glider, adapted to: be'projeeted upon its-flight by means of .a particularformof catapult, it is not. intended to: thereby unnecessarily restrict thescope of: the invention since some of the novel=-features mayobviously be more generallyiapplizcableito other types'of aerialtoys, or even to commercial: gliders.

Referringto thedrawing; the improved aerial toy' comprises' in general a miniature airplane consistingiof a fuselage-orbody 8 devoidof tail fins and -a pairofwings 9 pivotally associated withith'e forward end of the body 8; and a catapult or projector l0 adapted to setthe airplane. in flight:

The fuselage .or body 8 is preferably. formed Ofr.W0Od or other relatively lightaabut durable material; and-maybe fiat: and of. a length somewhat greater than that of the wings 9. The forwardendcof thebody 8 has an. upper forwardly. and downwardly inclined, surface H, clearly shown in-Figfi, andzthe-Iuselage maybe tapered toward-its'tail. p0rti.on-;but has no projecting-.portionsat the tail end. A relatively lightAsheet-metal, bracket I2 is rigidly. attached totthe-body.-:8 atthe surface ll, by-means of integral :projections l3: which pierce. the front portion. of the fuselage and are bent laterally at the bottom-to provide. a firm attachment.

ThemetaLbracket I2 is provided with front relatively inclined.- wing stops ..l 4 and. has reareach other and to the same plane, and the angle. of the surface II also determines the relative angularity of the wings relative to the horizontal central plane of the fuselage. These angles may be varied throughout a relatively wide rIange,and'

their proper determination is of extreme'importance in securing the best flying character- I istics of the glider.

The wings 9 may also be formed of wood or other relatively light but durable material, and each wing 9 is swingably attached to the corresponding side of the-bracket l2 by a pivot I8 penetrating the flanges l5, IS. The pivoted ends of the wings 9 are reenforced by means of sheet metal wrappers IS, the forward edges of which are engageable with the bracket stops I4 and extend along the fronts of the wings 9 for protective purposes. Each of the wings has a downwardly and outwardly extending lug 20 projecting therefrom remote from the wing pivot l8, and these lugs 20 are embraced by the ends of an ordinary rubber band 2|, the medial portion of which reacts against the forward end of the body Swithin a notch 22, as shown in Fig. 5. The rubber band 2|,is'under tension at all times and'tends to urge the wings 9 into distended position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

The catapult or projector l, only a fragment of the barrel of which has been shown because of the fact that the rear manipulating portion may assume various forms, has-substantially triangular, transverse, cross-section' corresponding with that of the airplane when the wings 9 are folded over the body 8. The upper'corners 23 of the projector barrel form parallel guideways with which the outer wing edges or tips are cooperable during flight projection of the airplane, as clearly shown in Fig. 6,and the gun or projector It] may be provided with an ejecting plunger 24 adapted to be rapidly propelled toward the outlet end of the barrel by means of a spring in a well-known manner. While the shape of the barrel and of the ejecting plunger 24 is new and useful in connection with our improved glider, the propelling mechanism for the plunger 24 may assume different forms and may be of the spring type shown in Patent No. 1,565,437, granted December 15, 1925.

During normal use of the improved aerial toy,

any number of the airplanes or gliders 'may be utilized in connection with a common projector Hi. In order to project one of the airplanes on a flight, the plunger 24 of the projector I0 is withdrawn so as to permit insertion of the glider within the projector barrel, and this may be readily done by collapsing the wings 9 to the position shown in Fig. 2, thereby stretching the rubber band 2|, after which the airplane may he slipped into the delivery end of the projector barrel. The rubber band will then cause the wings 9 to spread slightly so as'to bring the outer tip portions of the wings into sliding engagement with the guideways 23, as shown in Fig. 6, but the fuselage or body 8 will not necessarily contact with the lower portion of the barsame to continue its flight.

The stops |4 provide simple means for limitingthe outward movement of the wings 9, and

it has been found, in actual practice, that by properly predetermining the angles of the surfaces the direction of flight of the airplane may be readily determined by merely tion. .By utilizing a sling form of catapult,'the airplanes may be projected against a target, and

-pointing the projector ID in the desired directhey may, if desired, be provided with points which will cause them to stick to the target as they strike. A piston or gun type of projector may be utilizedin a similar manner, and by forming the body 8 and wings 9 of suitable relatively light but strong material, a comparatively slight impulse will send the airplane upon quite an extensive flight with remarkable accuracy in the predetermined direction.

The sheet metal bracket 2 and wrappers I9 are preferably formed of thin but stiff material, and

by forming these sheet metal parts as shown in the drawing, a rigid toy is produced. The upward and outward inclination of the wing guiding surfaces I! of the bracket l2 and the rearward and outward inclination of the front wing stops l4, maintain the desired direction of flight. of the-elongated fuselage or body 8 with out the aid of tail fins or other. guiding means at the rear end of the body 8; and the downward slant of the front uppersurface positions the bracket 2 so that folding or collapse of a the wings 9 will causezthem to assume a position closely adjacent to the top of the body 8,

as shown in Fig. 2. The rubber bands 2| may be readily rep-laced when worn or broken, and the body 8 and wings 9 may besuitably painted so as to produce a highly attractive appearance.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this, invention to the exact details of construction and to the precisemode of operation herein shown and described, for various I modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent: 1

1. An aerial toy, comprising, an airplane consisting of a fuselage and front wings pivotally attached to the-front end of the fuselage so as to permit rearward folding of the wings substantially into a common plane and directly over the fuselage, and a' projector of substantially triangular transverse cross-section having spaced corners providing guideways adapted to receive said wings when folded so as to definitely predetermine the position of the projected plane relative to the projector axis, and means for swinging said wings away from said body when said plane leaves said guideways.

3. An aerial toy, comprising, a fuselage consisting of a flat elongated bar having rigid rearwardly inclined stops at the forward end thereof, wings pivotally attached to the forward end of said fuselage and foldable over said bar, and an elastic band connecting portions of said wings remote from the mounting pivots and coacting at its medial portion with the front of said fuselage, said band tending to urge the rigid front edges of said wings against said stops at all times and said stops serving to definitely position said front wing edges at like acute angles relative to said bar when said Wings are fully spread,

4. An aerial toy, comprising, a fuselage consisting of a flat elongated bar, and wings pivotally attached to said bar, said wings being foldable over said bar and being disposed at an oblique angle relative to each other and to the plane of travel thereof when in flying position, and said wings constituting the sole means for guiding said fuselage in its flight.

5. An aerial toy, comprising, a fuselage consisting of a flat elongated bar having a front bracket provided with downwardly inclined surfaces extending outwardly from said body and rearwardly inclined stops adjoining said surfaces, and Wings pivotally associated with said bracket surfaces and biased to swing toward said stops, said wings constituting the sole means for guiding said fuselage in its flight.

6. An aerial toy, comprising, a fuselage having an upwardly inclined bracket provided with rear- Wardly inclined stops, and wings pivotally associated with said bracket, said wings being swingable against said stops and when so positioned having their forward edges rearwardly inclined and lying in planes which are inclined relative to each other and slope downwardly toward the front of the fuselage, and said wings constituting the sole means for guiding said fuselage in its flight.

'7. An aerial device comprising, a fuselage consisting of a flat elongated member, wings pivotally attached to said member, said wings being foldable toward said member and being disposed at an oblique angle relative to each other and to the plane of travel thereof when in flying position, and elastic means tending to urge said wings into flying position at all times, said wings constituting the sole means for guiding said fuselage in its flight.

8. An aerial device comprising, a fuselage consisting of a flat elongated member having a front bracket provided with relatively downwardly inclined surfaces extending outwardly and upwardly away from the fuselage and stops adjoining said surfaces, wings pivotally associated with said bracket and cooperable with said surfaces and said stops, and means tending to urge the rigid front edges of said wings against said stops at all times.

9. An aerial device comprising, a fuselage consisting of an elongated bar having a rigid front bracket providing guiding surfaces inclined downwardly relative to the bar and also providing stops inclined forwardly relative to said bar, wings swingable in the planes of said guiding surfaces and having rigid front edges engageable with said stops when the wings are fully spread, and means for urging said wings toward said stops at all times, said wings providing the sole means for guiding said fuselage in its flight,

10. An aerial device comprising, an elongated fuselage having front guiding surfaces inclined downwardly toward each other and forwardly and also having stops inclined downwardly and forwardly relative to each other, wings pivotally mounted upon said fuselage and swingable in the planes of said surfaces, said wings having rigid front edges engageable with said stops when the wings are fully spread, and means for constantly urging said wing edges toward said stops.

11. An aerial toy comprising, an elongated flat wooden bar, a sheet metal bracket having portions piercing and attached to the front end of said bar, said bracket having wing guiding surfaces on opposite sides of said bar and inclined relative thereto and also having relatively inclined front stops, wings pivotally attached to said bracket on opposite sides of saidbar and having front rigid edges engageable with said stops, said wings being swingable in the planes of said surfaces from a position over said bar to positions against said stops, and resilient means for urging said wings toward said stops.

12. An aerial toy comprising, an elongated vertically flattened bar, a bracket having depending integral portions piercing and secured to the front of said bar, said bracket having downwardly and inwardly inclined guiding portions and integral stops, wings pivotally attached to said guiding portions and having front edges remote from their pivots engageable with said stops, and means for urging said wings toward said stops.

13. An aerial toy comprising, an elongated vertically flattened bar, a bracket having depending integral portions piercing and secured to the front of said bar, said bracket having plane guiding portions and stops at the forward edges of said portions, wings pivotally attached to said guiding portions and having reenforced front edges engageable with said stops when said wings are fully spread, and resilient means coacting with said bracket and with portions of said wings remote from their pivots for urging the wings toward said stops.

' WILLIAM O. CLARK.

LAURENCE W. FINCH. CHARLES W. ROSE. 

